Breakdown of Onko viisaus parempaa kuin kauneus?
olla
to be
kuin
than / before (in 'ennen kuin') / like / as
parempi
better
viisaus
the wisdom
kauneus
the beauty
Questions & Answers about Onko viisaus parempaa kuin kauneus?
How is viisaus formed from the adjective viisas?
To make an abstract noun from viisas (wise), we take its inflectional stem viisaa-. When we add the suffix -us, the last vowel of the stem is dropped to avoid having three vowels in a row. So, viisaa- + -us becomes viisaus (wisdom).
The word for beautiful is kaunis. Why does the noun form kauneus have an 'e' in it?
Adjectives ending in -is (like kaunis or kallis) have stems ending in -ii- (kaunii-, kallii-). When deriving abstract nouns from these, the i changes to an e before adding the -us suffix. This is why kaunis becomes kauneus (beauty) and kallis (expensive) becomes kalleus.
The lesson is about the suffix -uus/-yys, but here we see -us. Are these the same suffix?
Yes! The base suffix is -uus/-yys, which you see in words like tyhmyys (from tyhmä). However, if the word's stem already ends in two vowels (like viisaa-), Finnish uses the shorter version -us/-ys so you don't end up with an awkward string of three or four vowels.
Why is the adjective parempi (better) in the partitive case (parempaa) here?
In Finnish, when the subject of a sentence is an abstract, uncountable concept (like viisaus or kauneus), the describing adjective is usually put in the partitive case. Saying Onko viisaus parempi would sound like you are comparing two specific, countable things.
Learn Onko viisaus parempaa kuin kauneus and more in Finnish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free